Baked Barbecue Onion Rings

Fried onion rings have been around since the early 1900’s and it was in 1933 that a Crisco ad appeared in the New York Times Magazine for deep fried onion rings. This recipe is kinder to the arteries, less fuss than deep fried, and has a crispy texture on the outside. A perfect snack for the weekend!

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place two baking sheets in the oven and let those preheat too. In a medium bowl, whisk together barbecue sauce, eggs and flour. Place bread crumbs in a separate bowl. Using tongs (or fingers) dip onion slice in the barbecue sauce mixture, shake the excess off and then dunk on all sides into the bread crumbs. Lay on a sheet of tin foil. Repeat until all onion slices have been dunked and coated.

Remove hot baking sheets from the oven and spray lightly with cooking spray. Move coated onions to hot baking sheets. Spray onions lightly with cooking spray. Bake for about 6 minutes, or until golden, then use tongs to turn each onion ring over. Spray the other side of the onions with cooking spray and bake for an additional 5 to 7 minutes. Watch closely to make sure they crumbs are not browning too quickly or burning. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: Holy smokes, these were good! I didn’t bother turning the onion ring on the other side…actually I forgot to but that didn’t hinder the taste. Bake them for 10 minutes or until the color of the crumbs turn golden brown. If the onion rings slices are less than 1/2-inch reduce cooking time. The barbecue sauce penetrated just enough to flavor the rings without overpowering the sweet taste of the onion. Enjoy!